FIDE Master Halil Ozgun Kerem (aka CrtN88)
Meet Halil Ozgun Kerem, a FIDE Master whose bullet chess rating once soared to a blazing 2727 in March 2025 — that's almost as fast as their mouse clicks! Known in the online chess universe as CrtN88, Halil is a tactical wizard with a penchant for exciting, whirlwind games.
The Lightning Bolt of Bullet Chess
Specializing in bullet chess, Halil's style could be described as “blink and it’s checkmate.” Over hundreds of games in 2025 alone, they’ve battled fiercely with a nearly even split between wins and losses but have maintained an impressive resilience, boasting a comeback rate of 75.34%. If you lose a piece against Halil, don’t despair too quickly: their win rate after such setbacks is a hardy 44.24%.
Favorite Openings — A Secret Weapon and More
Halil loves to keep opponents guessing with a mysterious “Top Secret” opening strategy, playing it in over 220 bullet games with a nearly 46% win rate. When feeling a little more classical, the Old Benoni Defense and the French Defense are their go-to openings — with over 80% wins in the latter, proving that Halil can bring both style and substance to the board.
Playing Style & Psychology
With a tendency to fight until the bitter end, Halil averages around 78 moves per game, showing deep endgame expertise and an uncanny ability to stay calm even under time pressure — though a tilt factor of 8 reminds us that even the best can get rattled after a string of tough games. Their best time to play? Definitely around 10:00 AM — mornings are for moves and checkmates.
Notable Stats & Anecdotes
- Longest winning streak: a sharp 9 games of pure domination.
- Most recent spectacular victory was a bullet game won by a flawless checkmate in just 33 moves — here’s the game link if you want to witness the magic.
- Has a somewhat love-hate relationship with opponent johnathan113, winning just over 23% of their 13 encounters. But hey, every hero has their arch-nemesis!
In Conclusion
Halil Ozgun Kerem’s chess adventures leave us with a delightful mix of lightning-fast strategy, psychological stamina, and a sprinkle of human imperfection. Whether they’re scoring checkmates or grappling with losses, one thing’s for certain: CrtN88's chess journey is a thrilling ride on the sixty-four-square rollercoaster.
Constructive Feedback for Halil Ozgun Kerem
What you are already doing well
- Dynamic Piece Play – Your recent win versus JankyDongle in the Alekhine’s Defence shows bold central strikes (18…Nxd4!) followed by precise calculation.
- Conversion Skills – When you reach a clearly better position you usually finish the job efficiently; only one of your last ten won positions slipped away.
- Opening Curiosity – You experiment with the KIA, Closed Sicilian, Albin Counter-Gambit and French structures, giving you a broad chess vocabulary.
Biggest improvement opportunities
- Time Management
• Four of your last five losses were on time.
• Set intermediate clock targets: “≥40 sec by move 20, ≥20 sec by move 30” in 1 | 0; or practise 5 | 5 where you must play with increment. - King Safety in Pawn Storms
• The Closed Sicilian loss vs fancyplaysyndrome shows h- and g-pawn pushes before castling was complete.
• Apply the “three-piece rule”: only launch a flank pawn storm when at least three pieces support the attack. - Endgame Fundamentals
• In the QGD-Three-Knights defeat you reached a rook ending with drawing chances yet faltered.
• Revisit Lucena & Philidor. Ten minutes a day with Nalimov/Lichess end-game trainer pays off quickly. - Streamline Your Repertoire
• You are playing both 1.e4 and 1.d4 plus many Black defences. Good for learning, but hard on prep time.
• Short term plan:
• White – build around the Queen’s Gambit Declined & Catalan setups.
• Black – keep the French versus 1.e4 and the Nimzo/Bogo complex versus 1.d4.
Once rating stabilises above 2300, re-introduce sidelines.
Action plan for the coming week
- Solve 20 tactical puzzles daily (1800-2200 range) and tag the theme (fork, pin, zwischenzug, etc.).
- Play three 15 + 10 games focusing solely on staying above 3 minutes at move 30.
- Self-annotate the critical sequence below, then compare with an engine. Note what you saw during the game versus what the engine shows.
Stats & Trends
Your peak ratings so far: Blitz 1535 (2025-05-09), Rapid 1516 (2025-01-06). Keep an eye on how performance fluctuates:
Next milestone
A realistic short-term goal is to stabilise above 2300 Rapid by August. That requires roughly +2 net wins per week – achievable if you turn those timeout losses into at least draws.
Stay disciplined with your clock, castle before you crash through, and enjoy the journey. Good luck!
🆚 Opponent Insights
| Recent Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Veronika Shubenkova | 3W / 1L / 0D | View |
| Ana Kuchava | 1W / 0L / 0D | View |
| Rick GC | 6W / 1L / 0D | View |
| Paul Rohwer | 4W / 2L / 0D | View |
| Svitlana Demchenko | 1W / 1L / 0D | View |
| Dr. Joerg Teumer | 3W / 0L / 0D | View |
| Igor Wilk | 3W / 2L / 0D | View |
| Will Moorhouse | 0W / 3L / 0D | View |
| Daniel Barria | 2W / 2L / 0D | View |
| Laurin Jahnz | 1W / 1L / 1D | View |
| Most Played Opponents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Johnathan Bakalchuk | 4W / 9L / 1D | View Games |
| Mirko Sajin | 3W / 7L / 0D | View Games |
| Димитрий Король | 6W / 4L / 0D | View Games |
| Daniel Rensch | 3W / 5L / 1D | View Games |
| Lucas Liascovich | 1W / 8L / 0D | View Games |
Rating
| Year | Bullet | Blitz | Rapid | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2584 | 1885 | 1516 | |
| 2024 | 1517 |
Stats by Year
| Year | White | Black | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 241W / 162L / 45D | 201W / 214L / 37D | 88.1 |
| 2024 | 11W / 5L / 0D | 13W / 8L / 0D | 0.0 |
Openings: Most Played
| Bullet Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 43 | 24 | 14 | 5 | 55.8% |
| Nimzo-Larsen Attack | 41 | 24 | 16 | 1 | 58.5% |
| Amazon Attack | 39 | 19 | 19 | 1 | 48.7% |
| Alekhine Defense | 36 | 12 | 20 | 4 | 33.3% |
| Caro-Kann Defense | 31 | 15 | 13 | 3 | 48.4% |
| Amar Gambit | 30 | 14 | 16 | 0 | 46.7% |
| Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit Accepted | 27 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 63.0% |
| Amazon Attack: Siberian Attack | 24 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 50.0% |
| Czech Defense | 23 | 6 | 13 | 4 | 26.1% |
| Modern | 20 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 40.0% |
| Blitz Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 37 | 24 | 13 | 0 | 64.9% |
| Unknown Opening* | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Australian Defense | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Barnes Opening: Walkerling | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Closed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Colle System: Rhamphorhynchus Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| London System: Poisoned Pawn Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| English Opening | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| English Opening: Symmetrical Variation | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Sicilian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Rapid Opening | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barnes Defense | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.0% |
🔥 Streaks
| Streak | Longest | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Winning | 9 | 0 |
| Losing | 8 | 1 |